The invention relates to a device for monitoring if a medical video endoscope has been used for medical endoscopy purposes, said device comprises a processing system having an input for receiving colour data signals, comprising a set of colour data components generated by said endoscope during an endoscopy, said processing system comprising a colour analysis unit, provided for selecting at least one of said colour data components.
Such a medical video endoscope is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,143 and used for medical diagnostic purposes of for example the stomach and the lungs. Therefore the endoscope comes into contact with aggressive substances such as stomach acid and needs to be disinfected after use. The video endoscope comprises a camera, generally a CCD camera, and a light conductor which should not enter into contact with liquid substances such as water, blood, or acid, neither during a diagnostic use, nor during disinfection. The camera and the light-conductor are therefore located in a housing which should regularly be checked in order to detect an eventual leak. Under ideal operating conditions, the leak check should be realised after each use, in order to detect leaks and limit in such a manner the damages which could occur due to a leak.
As however a leak check is a time-consuming activity, it is often xe2x80x9coverseenxe2x80x9d by the medical personnel, who continues to use the endoscope without having performed the leak check and sometimes not the disinfection operation. A leak can however cause serious damages to the endoscope leading to substantial and sometimes frequent repair costs. Of course no disinfection of the endoscope could also lead to serious infections of the patients.
The actual endoscopes however are not provided with any means which could warn the user that the leak check and the disinfection operation have to be done after each use, as the use itself is not detected by the endoscope himself. At this stage one can only rely on the conscience of the medical personnel to perform the leak check and the disinfection operation in order to take care of the good health of the patients and the endoscope.
It is an object of the invention to realise a device for monitoring a use of a medical video endoscope, wherein the use of the endoscope can be checked, so that an indication can be given to the medical personnel that for example a leak check and a disinfection have to be performed, in order to take care of the well functioning of the endoscope and thus to save repair costs.
A device according to the present invention is therefore characterised in that said processing system is provided for determining for the, or each, of said selected colour data components, an intensity value, by measuring the intensity of the considered colour data component during a predetermined time period, said processing system further comprising a memory for storing at least a first colour value reference range, indicating first colour intensity values obtained by executing said endoscopy, said memory being connected to an input of a verification unit, having a further input for receiving said intensity value(s), said verification unit being provided for determining a second colour value on the basis of said intensity values, and for verifying if said second colour value is within said first colour value reference range, said verification unit being also provided for generating a flag, indicating said use, upon establishing that said second colour value is within said first colour value reference range. It has been established that the colour intensity of at least one of the colour data components, forming the picture recorded by the endoscope, changes considerably when the endoscope is entered into a human or animal body. The gist of the present invention is now to use the information of the colour intensity of at least one colour data components during a predetermined period for establishing the use of the endoscope. By verifying if the second colour value, which is derived from that colour intensity value, is within said first range, it can be established whether that second colour value represents a value corresponding with one indicating that the endoscope has been entered into a body and so if said endoscope was used. The generation of the flag thus indicates that the endoscope was used and can then for example trigger a warning signal for the medical personnel that a disinfection operation and leak check are required. As the attention of the personnel is drawn to the necessity of checking the well functioning of the endoscope, costs can be saved as damages could be detected at an early stage.
A first preferred embodiment of a device according to the present invention is characterised in that said colour analysis unit is provided for selecting at least a first and a second colour data component, said verification unit being provided for determining said second colour value by subtracting the intensity values of the first and second colour data component. As two colours are involved, of which the difference of their second colour value is considered, a more reliable result is obtained.
A second preferred embodiment of a device according to the present invention is characterised in that said colour data signal is a video Red, Green, Blue signal and wherein said first respectively second colour data component is the Red respectively Green signal. Red is a dominant colour in the endoscope picture when the latter is introduced into the body, whereas green is dominant outside the body.
Preferably said predetermined time period corresponds to at least a part of the period of one video frame. This facilitates the operation of the device as the synchronisation signals of the video pictures can be used.
A third preferred embodiment of a device according to the present invention is characterised in that said colour data signals are organised in successive pictures, said processing system being provided for performing said selection for each of said successive pictures, said verification unit being provided for outputting said flag. if said flag has been generated for a predetermined number of successive pictures. As now the analysis is performed over subsequent pictures, the error probability is substantially decreased.
A fourth preferred embodiment of a device according to the present invention is characterised in that said device comprises a leakage detection indicator, said leakage detection indicator comprises a further memory for storing said flags, and a time schedule indicating a time at which each of said flags were generated, said leakage detection indicator being provided for generating a leakage check signal on the basis of said flag, said time schedule and an actual time. The medical personnel thus receives an indication that a leakage check is required.
A fifth preferred embodiment of a device according to the present invention is characterised in that said device comprises a counter, provided for counting the number of generated flags. In such a manner the device according to the present invention can also be used for registering the use of the device and provide the necessary data for example in case the endoscope should be leased. The frequency at which the endoscope is used can be determined and several informations based on this frequency could be generated.